Everybody hates Jeffrey Dean Morgan. And he's all right with that.

Morgan understands that when your first order of business as the newest cast member of AMC's “The Walking Dead” is to bash in the skulls of two beloved characters with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, there's bound to be a little backlash.

That horrific deed was the centerpiece of the season opener Oct. 23; it marked Morgan's first full episode outing as Negan, the charismatic ruler of the brutal Saviors tribe. The premiere revealed that Negan had bludgeoned not only Sgt. Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) but also Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun), who has been with the series since the first season. Morgan played Negan with sadistic glee.

The viciousness of the killings, depicted in graphic detail, exceeded the already considerable level of violence on the series. The episode was barely over before outraged fans were flooding Twitter, some proclaiming that they would never watch “The Walking Dead” again.

The next afternoon, Morgan was still largely oblivious to the furor: “I haven't been out in public yet and haven't been on the internet; I wanted to keep myself in a little bubble. But I saw (‘Walking Dead' co-star) Norman (Reedus) this morning, and he told me, ‘Oh, bro, everybody hates you.'

“Not to say I want people to hate me, but to do a role that elicits that kind of reaction is a big reason why I wanted to do it,” Morgan said.

It's been a heady year for Morgan. In addition to Negan, he is also breaking bad on the big screen in the indie thriller “Desierto” as a vigilante “patriot” stalking a group of Mexicans trying to cross into the United States through a treacherous, barren desert.

Morgan first pierced pop culture 10 years ago, melting and then breaking hearts on ABC's “Grey's Anatomy” with his sexy portrayal of Denny Duquette, the doomed heart transplant patient who romanced resident Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl).

Duquette and Negan are bookends to a steady run of roles for the Seattle native on film (he played the edgy Comedian in “Watchmen”) and TV (“Supernatural,” “Weeds,” “Magic City” and “Extant”). Just before “The Walking Dead,” Morgan played a love interest for attorney Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) on “The Good Wife.”

But it's “The Walking Dead” that has caused the biggest stir. And despite all the “hate,” there's still plenty of love for Morgan.

Despite the horror of the season opener, Morgan said he hopes fans will stick with the show. “We're certainly not out to offend people. But we are telling a story, and sometimes in this world there's going to be things you don't necessarily want to see.”

greg.braxton@latimes.com